Rack for theater-seats.



O. P. W. HANSON.

RACK FOR THEATER SEATS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-27, 1911,

Lz'wfiwn Patented Sept. 4,1911

INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEY OSCAR P. W. HANSON, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

1 3x01: non THEATER-SEATS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 4, 191 "t.

Application filed March 27, 1917. Serial No. 157,715.

To allfwitom it'may concern:

Be it known that I, OsoAR P. WV. HANSON, a; citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of'l/Vashington, have invented new and useful Improvements in Racksfor Theater-Seats, of which'the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to furniture, and more especially to hat and coat racks; and the object of the same is to produce an improved rack of this kind for attachment to the back of theater seats and thelike for holdingthe hat and wraps of a person in the seat in the rear, and his cane or umbrella. v

Aspecial object of the invention istoso construct the rack that in its folded condition it is out of the way and not likely to catch inthe garments of people who may be passing between therows of seats,

The following specification sets forth details of construction, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein? Figure' 1 is aperspective view of this device applied to the back of a theater seat or chair andin use, an umbrella being indicated 'in dotted lines as engaged" with the hook.

Fig. 2 is a cross section onthe line 22 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings I have used the letter C to designate the back ofaseat or chair, being one of those which are placedin rows across a theater or other like auditorium, and ofcourse it might be the back of a bench or pew as ina church. These rows of seats are placed close together, and so closein factthat'itis with difliculty that a newcomer may pass transversely between the backof the seats in" one row and the knees of spectators who may already be seated in the chairs of the next row. In some auditoriums it is even diflicult for the newcomer to pass to his seat when those who have already arrived rise in their places; In any case the newcomer must pass by the Wraps which may have been laid over the backs of the seats in front or may be carried by attachments applied thereto, w-iththe result that some of these wraps are often swept from their racks, umbrellas are knocked down, and much confusion and discomfort follows. Efl orts have hitherto been made to produce chair attachments or coat and umbrella racks to meet the conditions named, and it is to this class of inventions that mine belongs.

Coming now to the details, this rack is made entirely of three pieces of wire. The first is the support which comprises at its midlength a cross-bar 1, disposed horizontally and standing about two inches in rear of the backof the chair C, arms 2 bent from its ends, converging slightly toward each other as seen in Fig. 2, and extending straight toward the back of the chair, loops or eyes 3 at the inner ends of these arms and through which screws S pass, legs 4 depending from said loops, and eyes 5 at the lower ends of the legs formed at right angles to the plane of the loops 3 and the back of the chair, for a purpose yet to appear.

The secondor swinging member comprises a cross bar 11 whose ends arebent downward as at 12 and deflected slightly forward as at 13, and then carried straight downward for a considerable distance in side parallel and spaced a distance about equal to that between the two pairs of inter-engaging eyes, and the gentle bends 13 cause the upper ends it of the arms and the entire cross-bar 11 to be deflected a little forward from the general plane of the two arms 14.

' As seen in Fig. 2, the distance between the angles 6 and 7 where the cross-bar l of the support is united to its arms 2, is about the same as the distance between the arms 14 of the swinging member; whereas the distancebetween the other ends of the arms 2 position seen in Fig. 1, so that the entire,

swinging member is supported closely against the back of the chair and out of the way. On the other hand, when it is desired to bring this member into position for use, the operator has but to grasp the cross-bar and pull it forcibly forward, with the result that each side arm is caused to travel over the bend 8 and along the arm 2 of the support until it falls into the angle 6 or 7 and the parts stand as seen in Fig. 1. At this time the upper end of the swinging member is a considerable distance from the chair farther than the cross-bar 1 stands from the chair, the latter distance being about two inches more or less, and therefore coats or wraps may be laid over the swinging member which forms as it were, an inclined shelf for receiving them. The brim of the hat or cap may be passed over the cross-bar of the fixed support, and the crown of the same may project toward the knees of the wearer or owner and yet not to such an extent as to interfere with them. Now when a newcomer arrives and desires to pass along the space between the chair-backs and the persons already sitting, the latter have but to lift out their hats or caps to clear a passage sufficient for the new-comer to pass through.

If the auditorium is built on a plan where the seats are extremely crowded, the original or first-comer may have to rise in his'seat to permit the new-comer to pass, but this is not the fault of the invention. Rather it is due to the poor spacing ofthe seats in the auditorium.

Another feature of my invention is its provision for supporting the cane or umbrella. At one of the angles as at 7 as shown, the wire of which the support is composed is given a twist to form an eye 20 and with this eye is engaged another, numbered 21, on the shank 22 of a hook 23, which latter might be of rather lighter wire than the remainder of the device. Attention is di rected to the fact that the eye 20 of the support stands upright and in a plane at right angles to the back of the chair, whereas the eye 21 of the hook stands upright and in a plane parallel with the back of the chair and the bill 23 of the hook projects from this eye in such direction that normally it hangs toward the chair-back and alongside the interengaging eyes 5 and 15 above described. The result is that this hook normally hangs in a space no deeper than that occupied by the cross-bar 1 where it projects from the back of the chair, and its bill normally lies against the chair-back so that persons passing to and fro may not catch their clothing on the hook or in the eyes. When the hook is to be used, it is obviously swung up to the position seen in Fig. 1, and the cane or umbrella engaged with it and stood on the floor. Thereafter when the new-comerpasses by, the bill of thehook is yet directed toward the chair-back and held so by engagement with the umbrella, and the new-comer may .not engage his clothes thereon for this reason. The parts may be of any wire',,but'I would preferably treat them by nickeling or. japanning so that the entire deviceis tasteful in appearance and is an ornament rather than other wise. The screws Smay be any that are appropriate to the attachment. 7 i

What is claimed as new is 2- p 1. In a rackfor theater seats and the'like, the combination with a support comprising a crossbar, arms extending from its ends to the back of the seat and converging slightly toward each other in that direction, there formed into loops for attachment to said.

seat-back, legs continuing said loops and depending along the seat-back to'pointsbelow the cross-bar, and eyes at the lower ends of the legs standing in planes at right angles to said seat-back; of a swinging member comprising a cross-bar at its upper end, parallel arms depending therefrom and separated adistance corresponding with the space between the outer ends of said arms, and eyes at the lower ends of the upright arms standing in a plane parallel with the seat-back, and interengaged with. thefirstv named eyes, substantially as described;

2. In a rack for theater seats and thelike, the combination with a fixed suppOrt comprising a horizontal cross-bar of wire bent at its ends into arms extending from the cross-bar toward the seat-back and converging slightly toward each other, each arm being bent outward gently at that end remote from the cross-bar and formedrinto an eye,

a a screw passingthrough such eye into the chair-back, and other eyes outstanding from the chair-back below those first-named; of a swinging member of spring wire comprising a cross-bar, upright side armsdepending from its extremities and spacedfrom each other a distance to normally engage the angles between said first-named crossbar and its arms but to spring over the bends of. the latter, and eyes at the ends of the side arms of the swinging member interengaging the outstanding eyes. onthe chalr-baok.

1,239,389 3. In a rack for theater seats and the like, the combination With a swinging member of inverted U-shape having eyes at the lower ends of its arms; of a supporting 5 member of spring Wire comprising a crossbar bent at angles into arms, the remote ends of the latter bent into loops for attachment to the chair-back and continued thence downwardly into legs, and the lower ends of the legs formed into out-standing eyes interengaged With those first-named, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature.

OSCAR P. W. HANSON.

flopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

